Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall
by SGL
Summary: Do not read this fic. It sucks.
1. The Queen's Wish

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh. But I'm not so sure who owns Snow White…  
  
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It was a cool winter's night and snowflakes were gently falling, slowly blanketing a small kingdom. This quaint little town surrounded a magnificent castle with turrets and towers, and at the topmost tower of all, a beautiful queen sat at her open window, watching the snow fall on the kingdom she ruled, watching as one by one, the lights went out in the cottages, and parents put their children to sleep. She would watch the town every night, in hopes of seeing one of the town's little children, for she had none of her own.  
  
She sighed and reached her hand up to close the window, but as she did, she raked her finger across the pane, and cut herself. She gasped slightly and three drops of blood fell onto the snow on the ledge. She stuck her finger in her mouth and cursed internally. She glanced at the blood and snow against the night sky. 'I wish I had a daughter with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as dark as night.'  
  
A few months after, she got her wish and she bore a child. It was not a daughter, but a son. He was not an albino with skin as white as snow. He had a normal skin tone. His lips were not as red as blood, but more of a dark peachy shade. And his hair was only partly as dark as night. He had golden bangs and his black hair was edged in magenta. Now, the queen was not all too disappointed. She named him Yugi and was as happy as a mother could be, especially when her husband, the king, died a few days later, for all of his money and riches and kingdom were left to her. Not a month later, though, she remarried to a man named Pegasus.  
  
Pegasus was a bit image obsessed and had his own magical mirror. Where he got it, the queen never dared to ask. She was a little afraid of it because whenever he asked, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the most adorable of us all?" the Mirror would always answer, "You're the most adorable one of all." Now, the Mirror being sentient, knew that even though the white- haired lunatic really wasn't the most adorable, Pegasus had something called a 'fist' and a glass of wine: a bad combination for such a cowardly Mirror.  
  
This went on for over a decade. The kingdom was at peace and everyone was happy. But it was getting harder to ignore the increasing adorability of Yugi who grew to be a very lovable fifteen-year-old. His small stature seemed to help; making him look like he was ten, and his eyes always gleamed with boyish curiosity. And so, it seemed destined that one fine summer's day, Pegasus went to his Magic Mirror and asked it,  
  
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall,  
  
Who's the most adorable of us all?"  
  
The mirror paused and finally let out,  
  
"Yugi is the most adorable one of all."  
  
The scream that pierced the castle afterward caused one the castle's soldiers/huntsmen to come bursting into the room.  
  
"My Queen, what has happened?!" He glanced around the room to see Pegasus looking as if he were in the middle of a heart attack, and a scared-looking mirror.  
  
"Where's the Queen?" he asked stupidly. Pegasus sputtered out a sound of suppressed rage. He stomped over to the huntsman and grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close to his face. "This is what you are to do with little Prince Yugi…"  
  
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Okay, what do you think? 


	2. Attempted Murder

The hunter walked down the hall, slowly. He didn't want to go where the Queen's husband (A/N: don't know if he's technically a king) had sent him. He didn't like the order he was given. He didn't even really like the kid, Yugi, he was so annoyingly cheerful all the time, but that didn't mean he wanted to kill him. Just then, though, as the hunter was contemplating running away from the kingdom, little Yugi popped out from nowhere, scaring the crap out of the older man. He yelped out loud, sprang backwards, and patted his chest to slow his heart rate. Yugi smiled brightly up at him.  
  
"Hello!" Yugi said, "You want to come and help me hunt? I'm getting pretty good with archery." He held up a large bow and a quiver full of arrows.  
  
"Uh, y-yeah, sure, why not?" He ended squeaking out the last word and a half, but the prince didn't seem to notice. The hunter led Yugi out of the castle, through the garden, and into the forest. They walked for quite a while and didn't slow until they were deep in the woods. It was getting pretty dark and the hunter looked nervously around until he finally stopped in a small clearing.  
  
"Is this where we're going to start hunting?" Yugi looked around hopefully. "Wow, I've never been this deep into the forest." He fitted his bow and arrow and aimed into the dark spots of the foliage surrounding them.  
  
"Uh, not exactly…" he said, a bit uneasily.  
  
"Huh?" Yugi looked confused and lowered his arrow. With the last thought of 'please, God, forgive me for what I'm about to do.' the hunter pulled out a dagger and stalked his way towards the teen. Yugi stepped backwards and bumped into a tree.  
  
"I'm sorry kid." the huntsman said regretfully. He drew back the dagger…and then…  
  
"Aaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! My f*cking foot!" Yugi had still had his bow and arrow ready. Judging by the huntsman's cries of pain, you can probably conclude where the arrow had ended up. With the hunter hopping around in agony, Yugi threw down his bow and bolted into the woods.  
  
The hunter didn't even try to chase him. He was too preoccupied by the stick of wood and piece of metal that had gone through his foot. With tears in his eyes, he wrenched it out and hobbled over to Yugi's bow and arrows. He crouched down to pick them up and came up face to face with a huge warthog. All of a sudden, his dense skull came up with an idea to save his own hide.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Meanwhile, Yugi was running for dear life and still hadn't stopped. He slowed, and glimpsed over his shoulder. The hunter wasn't chasing him. The prince stopped and sat down on a rotting log to try and catch his breath, thinking of what to do. He had no idea where he was, how to get back, no food, and no water. Then, of course, it started to rain. 'Aw, man!' he thought-groaned. Standing up slowly, he began to wander around the forest for shelter. No sooner than he started, he saw a tiny cottage sitting on the other side of a small stream that had developed from the rain. Thought-groaning once more, he trudged towards the little stream and started to wade across.  
  
By the time he came out of the other side, he was frozen solid, soaking wet, and covered in a large amount of mud. He felt like passing out right there on the bank, but he looked up and saw the warm, cozy-looking cottage and began to run towards it. He reached the little door and knocked on it. No one answered. He tried the door knob and found it was still open. He stepped in and immediately felt warmer. There was a comfortable fire burning in the fireplace, lanterns burning all around, and he noticed, seven of everything. He started to wonder why when he saw a table loaded with food. Then he forgot what the number seven meant and stumbled towards the table.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Back at the castle)  
  
"Here is the little bugger's heart." the hunter said through gritted teeth, "Just like you requested." He presented a wooden box to Pegasus, the Queen's husband. The tall man took it and then, after taking a sip of wine, he opened it.  
  
"Well done. Now, leave me." He waved a hand at the hunter who was soaked with rain water. The man hobbled out, cursing slightly about his injured foot. The tall, overly-smug man stepped over to his window, and looked out to the forest.  
  
"Goodbye, Prince Yugi.  
  
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Okay, the dwarves are coming next chapter, I promise. Did you like my little improv to the scene when the hunter tries to kill him? 


	3. The Not-So-Short-Dwarves

Here they are, all the rest of the characters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
1.1.1.1 "Buurrrpppp!" Yugi's eyes popped open at his own burp. At first, he blushed and glanced around to see if anyone had heard him. Then, he realized 'Oh, yeah, I'm alone.' He sat back, very much at peace with himself. He had just eaten six steaks, six helpings of potatoes, and six bowls of soup. He was about to reach for the seventh and last meal when he thought, 'Maybe I should save some for tomorrow.' Shrugging, he got up and stretched out, yawning. 'I wonder if there's any place to sleep here.' He wandered the little cottage and, finding a rickety, rotting old staircase, decided to risk his good health and climb it. There was only one wooden door to go through at the top, so he entered the room and found seven, comfy-looking beds. He was so tired that he just sank into the nearest one and fell, fast asleep.  
  
2 ~*~*~*~One Hour Later~*~*~*~  
  
"Oh, jeez, am I tired! Working the mines all day…well, at least I dug up a new blue-rock for my collection." said a brown-haired elf, stretching out his arms.  
  
"Seto, what are you talking about? You just sat on your duff all day. I dug up that rock and gave it to you because I felt sorry for you." answered a female voice.  
  
"Well, Anzu, you know he lives off of pity." said a white-haired creature, knowingly.  
  
"Yeah, from now on we'll call you 'Lazy'" teased a blonde one.  
  
"Only if you get to be 'Ugly'" 'Lazy' retorted.  
  
"Have you looked in the lake lately? You're uglier than I am!"  
  
"Stop making fun of my brother!" The smallest figure in the group raised a shovel threateningly.  
  
"What? We're your brothers and sisters, too, dingus. What the heck do the rest of us look like?" raved a pointy-headed one.  
  
It was amazing that this bickering group didn't wake our little prince up as they neared the house. With their picks and shovels banging around, they all clambered into the cottage, still arguing. But they stopped dead in their tracks and in their words when they saw their dinner table.  
  
"What the…?  
  
"Who…?"  
  
"I'm going to kill the one who ate my steak!" (A/N: Just guess who said this!)  
  
"Hey, mine's still here!" The second girl in the family smiled happily and began to chow down, not noticing the looks on her brothers' and sister's faces.  
  
"How can you think of food at a time like this, Mai?"  
  
"Umm…because I've got some?" The others were about to tackle her down when one of them said. "Quiet! The crook might still be here!"  
  
They immediately shut up and split up to prowl the house. Almost immediately, the short one cried out, "I found him! He's in the bedroom!" They rushed up the stairs and piled into the room. "Shhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!" they hissed at each other. They tiptoed to surround the bed with the sleeping boy in it. They peeked over the footboard and the sides of the bed.  
  
"Hey, that's my bed! Do you think he's got lice?"  
  
"Shut it, Jou! That kid's the one in danger of lice!"  
  
"Are you insulting my hygiene?"  
  
"Quiet, he's waking up!" Sure enough, Yugi had finally woken up. He sat up, started to rub his eyes and froze. Slowly taking his hands away from his eyes, he peered around at the curious and slightly elfish faces.  
  
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", screamed Yugi.  
  
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", screamed the seven faces.  
  
They stared at each other after this little screaming contest. For a loooong time. Finally, someone broke the silence.  
  
"Who are you and why are you in Jou's bed?"  
  
"I'm sorry; I didn't know it was his." Yugi said, scared. "You're not going to eat me are you?"  
  
"Y'know, maybe we could. He did devour most of our dinners." After seeing Yugi gulp, the first girl answered, "Seto's just kidding. We aren't ogres. We don't eat humans."  
  
"Then what are you?"  
  
"Dwarves, what else?" she said, matter-of-factly.  
  
"But you're not short; you're taller than I am." Yugi pointed out.  
  
"Do you really need to rub it in? We know. We're a genetic mutation." scoffed the one that had threatened to eat him.  
  
"You guys are all related?"  
  
"Yep, just like mommy and daddy!" answered the second girl, cheerfully. (A/N: Well, it was common practice back then!)  
  
"Oh sorry, we forgot to introduce ourselves! My name is Anzu and theses are my brothers and sister: Jou, Honda, Bakura, Seto, Mokuba, and Mai." They all waved cheerfully at him, with the exception of one or two of them.  
  
"My name is Yugi." With that, a flurry of whispers surrounded him.  
  
"Aren't you the prince of the kingdom outside the forest?"  
  
"Yeah, but…" he told them the story of what happened.  
  
"Oh, you poor thing." said Anzu. She grabbed his head and hugged it tightly to her chest. He blushed like a tomato. "You must stay with us, we'll protect you!"  
  
"You can protect him…" Seto mumbled.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Oh, nothing."  
  
"Yugi, if you want to, you can stay with us. But you'll need to take care of the house. Y'know, cook and clean and stuff." reasoned Bakura.  
  
"Yeah, I can do that!" So they struck up a deal with the wild haired boy. He would cook and clean while they were away at the mines.  
  
So the next morning, he made them all breakfast and they went off to work, but not before they warned him. "Do not open the door for anyone. The king will know that you are here. He is an evil magic-user."  
  
~*~*~*~Back at the castle~*~*~*~  
  
"Mirror, mirror on the wall,  
  
Who is the most adorable of us all?"  
  
"Tis' Yugi, living in a house of log,  
  
So compared to him, you look like an ugly dog.  
  
Pegasus' wine glass shattered in his hand. He called out to his guards, and had them send a message to the executioner.  
  
"Behead the scum that I call a hunter." When they left, he got up slowly. 'I might as well do it myself.' He walked up to the mirror and pressed his finger to the panel on top. The mirror and the wall behind it shifted upwards to create a narrow hole in the wall. He stepped in through the hole and slowly walked down a set of stone steps. He ended up in a pitch black cavern. With a wave of his hands, he lit all the candles and the room illuminated with a dim golden light. The space was filled with cauldrons and dusty spellbooks and jars of slimy objects. He walked over to a tall altar in the center of the room. On it stood a huge leather-bound book and there was a strange golden eye set into the cover. He opened it and began to skim for the best way to slay an enemy.  
  
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I apologize to all the Jou and Kaiba fans, someone needed to take the fall… 


	4. The Gift

This is the longest chapter yet…  
  
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"Ah, yes. This is perfect. That boy must worry about his hair all the time." Pegasus ran a finger down the page of his most prized spell book, the one with the golden eye set into the cover. For a few moments, he busied himself with gathering ingredients and materials. When he had all that he needed, he set himself under a dank window. The moon was shining brightly on the man, not that he deserved it. He held up a beautiful golden comb, turning it this way and that, causing it to glitter in the dim silvery light. Then, he set to work for the rest of the night.  
  
~*~*~*~The Next Afternoon, At the Dwarves' Cottage~*~*~*~  
  
Yugi smiled happily to himself, humming a random tune and sweeping the dusty wooden floor. He couldn't believe how cheerful he had been these past few days. He was living in a tiny, decrepit cottage in the middle of the woods with seven others, working harder than he ever had, and was miles away from his mother. But he was still happier than he could ever remember because, he, Prince Yugi, the most isolated person in the land, had great new friends.  
  
Yugi finished sweeping the kitchen and put the broom away into the corner. He then reached into the meat bin for a bit of roast beef to make dinner for the dwarves. Just then, he heard someone knocking on the door. He wiped the meat off his hands and walked over to open the door. On the doorstep, Yugi saw a tall figure with his face wrapped up in a thick woolen scarf, holding a basket of beautiful golden combs.  
  
"Hello." said the guy. "I'm selling some of the finest combs in the land and …"  
  
SLAM! Yugi had smashed the door into the guy's face. 'Dumb solicitors.' he grumbled to himself. He started heading back into the kitchen, but there was another knock. Groaning out loud, Yugi ran back to the door, threw it open and yelled, "Not interested!" He slammed it again, but this time, the man held out his hand to keep it open. Growling, Yugi pushed against the door with all his might. He couldn't get it closed and he was straining to keep his feet from sliding across the floor. The man hadn't even flinched. He just stood there, waiting for Yugi to give up. With one final heave, Yugi slumped against the door, panting.  
  
"Fine!" he gasped. "Jeez, you're insistent! What do you want me to buy?" The salesman held out the basket proudly. "I have the finest golden combs in the land. You look like you might need them." he said, eyeing Yugi's wild hairstyle.  
  
"Look, I don't wear combs!"  
  
"Just try one." The man held out a particularly sparkly one.  
  
"If I do, will you leave me alone?" Yugi practically begged.  
  
"I promise. I'll go as soon as you try this one on."  
  
"But, I like that one better."  
  
"Yes, but this one suits you." Pegasus argued. He just wanted to get it over with, and be the most adorable again.  
  
"But it's so tacky. Do you have any in silver?"  
  
"JUST TRY IT ON, WILL YOU!"  
  
"Okay, jeez. You know you're not going to get any business like this." Yugi reached out for the gold one. He looked it over, shrugged, and stuck it into his hair.  
  
"How's does it loo…" He never finished his sentence. He fell to the floor, poisoned. Chuckling, the salesman whipped off his cloak to reveal…Pegasus! (dun, dun, duuunn!)  
  
"Goodnight, Yugi. Now I am the most adorable in all the land." He cackled loudly and wrenched the comb out Yugi's hair. Almost immediately, the small teen woke up.  
  
"Huh?" His half-closed eyes widened. "Pegasus!" Panicking, Pegasus yelped out loud and jammed the comb back onto Yugi's head. He fell, poisoned, again.  
  
"Phew!" Pegasus sighed. Collecting up the rest of the combs and his cloak and scarf, he stepped pulled out some magic dust and threw it over himself.  
  
"Fine, you can keep the stupid comb." Then, he disappeared.  
  
~*~*~*~A Few Hours Later~*~*~*~  
  
"What do you think he made for us tonight?" Jou said, hungrily.  
  
"I don't care, food's food." Honda rubbed him belly.  
  
"Do you guys maybe think you eat too much?" Anzu lectured. "You had your lunches at lunch time, and our leftovers five minutes ago!"  
  
"Anzu," Seto began, "We should get them home for food, quick, before their stomachs start digesting their brains, like last time."  
  
"Are you looking for a fight?" Honda growled.  
  
"Yeah, because you'll lose." Jou slammed one fist into his other hand's palm.  
  
"Oh, stop it guys!" Anzu called out suddenly. "Here we are." They had made it all the way to the cottage without killing each other. It was a miracle. They stepped in the house, chattering noisily, mostly about what they were going to eat, until they saw Yugi, lying on the ground.  
  
"Oh, my gosh!"  
  
"What happened to him?"  
  
"Who's going to cook for us?!" They started panicking and checked his pulse and his breath. They slapped him and threw water on him. Well, maybe they were a little over anxious.  
  
"Mai, stop that! He's getting bruises on his face. If he was still alive he won't be now!"  
  
"Seto, we didn't need THAT much water!"  
  
"No! He's drowning!"  
  
This frenzy continued for about an hour until they finally gave up. They slumped against the walls, exhausted.  
  
"He's gone." Bakura said in a hollow voice.  
  
"We'd better build a coffin."  
  
"Well," Mai sobbed, "He's not dying like this"  
  
"Mai, just give up. He's not coming back. He must've been like this all day." Jou was tearing.  
  
"Little idiot! Why did he open the door?" Seto was sobbing just like Mai.  
  
"I didn't mean it that way. I meant the comb. It's so tacky; I can't bear to remember him like this." As everyone else sweatdropped, she reached over and pulled the comb out. When she did, he stirred and sat up.  
  
"I feel like I've been run over by a horse. Hard." Still, shaking that dizziness away from his head, he was instantly knocked to the floor as one by one they dogpiled him, with Mokuba lastly flinging himself on the top. They were so happy, that it took a while for them to hear him whimpering at the bottom. When they finally got off him, they started berating him for opening the door. With his head spinning from the lingering effects of the poison, he only heard the last word of a sentence from each person. The strange words formed in his head to spell out: "idiotic for evil died that ugly chimpanzee".  
  
After they figured out that Yugi didn't seem to even realize who they were, they decided they should start dinner for him. Anzu, Mai, and Mokuba went into the kitchen, discussing what to make. Jou, Honda, and Seto followed, discussing what to taste-test. Bakura stayed behind and looked at Yugi.  
  
"Yugi? Do you understand me?" he asked tentatively.  
  
"Huh? Oh yeah, you're getting more coherent every second." He smiled weakly.  
  
"Hey, I wanted to give you something." He pulled out of his poccket a beautiful gold pendant, shaped like an upside-down pyramid.  
  
"Whoa…" Yugi held it his palm. It felt warm.  
  
"I dug it up in the mines today. The others inspected it and they agree with me, it's magical. It'll grant you your greatest wish, and protect you from harm. So, keep it on from now on." Bakura told him.  
  
"Thank you, but don't you want to keep it?"  
  
"Oh, I have my own." He pulled out a large gold ring with a triangle suspended in the middle and many pointy arrow-like things on the circle's sides. Both the objects had a strange-looking eye carved into the front.  
  
"Mine's good magical powers aren't as strong as yours, but, I feel connected to this ring, and you're the one in need of magical protection."  
  
"You can tell which ones are more magical than others?" Yugi was curious about the magic world.  
  
"All dwarves can, and all other magical creatures. Humans can, too, they just need to pay attention once in a while." He winked and set off for the kitchen.  
  
Yugi took one last look at the pyramid, threw its chain over his neck, and followed Bakura into the kitchen, already smelling the roast chicken.  
  
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Okay, as I see it, there are only going to be 2 more long chapters until the end. 


	5. The Wish

Hi! For those of you who couldn't already tell, I'm doing the fairy tale, not the Disney version. In this version, there are three poisoning attempts. Here comes number two!  
  
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Pegasus woke up the next morning, smiling widely, truly pleased that he had killed off his competition. He stretched out his arms and rolled out of his silk-sheeted bed. He stepped right up to the Mirror, confident, and asked it his question.  
  
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall,  
  
Who's the most adorable of us all?"  
  
The Mirror smiled mischievously. It had been growing cockier day after day, loving it every time it saw Pegagus' reaction. It was no longer afraid of telling the girly-man the truth. What was hard was getting the answer to rhyme, as well as to be insulting.  
  
"Yugi is still cuter, and yes, he's still alive,  
  
But you; was your head stuck in a beehive?"  
  
The Mirror, though overconfident, was still smart enough to know that he was very close to Pegasus' breaking point. The man's face turned purple with rage and he slammed his fist towards the Mirror. The Mirror winced, but didn't feel himself shatter. Pegasus had hit the panel on top of it and was now entering the stone door frame that had opened up. He stomped his way down into the dungeon and opened up his old spellbook to the poison he had made earlier. He flipped the page and saw the perfect spell. 'But what to put it on.' he said to himself. As his eyes fell on a family portrait painted a few years ago, he came upon an idea and smiled that cruel, evil smile.  
  
~*~*~*~At the Dwarves' Cottage~*~*~*~  
  
"Now, NOBODY is to enter this house but us." Anzu said, like a worried mother hen.  
  
"Don't worry so much Anzu." Bakura said. "He's not dumb enough to do it again, and besides, he's got that necklace on." He pointed at his own gift to the prince, the golden pyramid. Touching it lightly, Yugi spoke up. "Don't worry about me. Just go on to work. I promise that no one is to get in this house and I won't leave it."  
  
Still apprehensive, Anzu stepped out the door, and the rest followed her, saying their goodbyes for the day. Sighing, Yugi closed the door behind them and traipsed into the kitchen, bringing with him the dirty breakfast dishes. Just as he set them down, he heard a knock on the door. He shook his head and walked to the door, yelling, "Forgot something?" At the door was not, as he expected, Seto, having forgotten his shovels, again. It was a young woman. She was very tall and slim, with silvery hair and a very fashionable tunic. She looked kind of familiar…  
  
"Hello, I come bearing some of the finest…" SLAM! Yugi slammed the door into the face of his second vendor in two days.  
  
"NO SOLICITORS!" he yelled through the door.  
  
"But I'm selling…neck belts." Almost immediately, the window next to the door swung open.  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to open the door, but I'm sure you can show me your fine merchandise through this window." Yugi smiled, excited. The woman blinked for a few seconds, surprised that he could've shoved open the window so quickly. Shaking her head to regain her cool, she held out a large, flat basket heaped with piles of short belts. Pulling one out from the bottom, she held it out to him and Yugi took it.  
  
"Hmm…not too bad, but that one on the left side of the basket is more of my color." He held it back out to her. The woman looked livid for a moment, as if she wanted to argue with him, but then her face lit up suddenly, as if she struck upon an idea. She paused, smiled evilly at the boy, and bolted straight into the woods. Confused, Yugi suddenly realized he still had the neck belt.  
  
"Hey, wait! I still have your…" he knew it was useless. She was long gone. But he still felt like she was familiar to him. He shrugged and examined the belt closer. He smiled. He hadn't had a neck belt since he was ten, when his mother said it was too crude and threw it out. He missed his old one. He pulled off his pyramid because its chain was in the way of buckling the belt. He swung the belt around his neck and buckled it to his neck. He immediately felt it begin to tighten. Gasping for the breath that had just been choked out of his throat, he reached up and tried to get it off, but the buckle was too polished and slippery. He started to get woozy. He could feel that it wasn't shrinking any more, it just stayed slightly too tight, at the perfect length to suffocate him. He fell down in a heap, with one last thought fluttering to his mind. 'Pegasus makes a pretty salesgirl…'  
  
~*~*~*~Sunset~*~*~*  
  
"That's my jewel!" Mai insisted. "I'm the one who dug it up. You stole it from my pail!"  
  
"Prove it." Mokuba said lazily, tossing and catching the gem repeatedly. Jou caught it when his youngest brother tossed it up and handed it to Mai.  
  
"Here you go." He smiled.  
  
"Hey! Jou!" Mokuba whined. "Give that back!"  
  
"Shut it, twerp. You shouldn't steal from others." he reprimanded.  
  
"I didn't steal it!" the kid pouted,  
  
"Really?" he said sarcastically. "Do you even know what kind of jewel that is?" The kid looked stumped.  
  
"Thought so." he grinned triumphantly. "It's a red-rock."  
  
"No, it's not." Seto spoke up suddenly. "It's a garnet."  
  
"It is so a red-rock!" Jou argued.  
  
"You wouldn't know a red-rock if it hit you in the head" Sure enough, Seto bounced a small red pebble off of Jou's head. Jou was on him in a flash. As the two oldest brothers wrestled on the side of the rode, the rest of them sat down on a small log, attached to huge sweatdrops.  
  
"How long do you think this one will last?" Bakura asked almost bored.  
  
"I'd give them…say…four minutes." Anzu guessed. And in exactly four minutes, the two pulled themselves off of each other, dusted off their shirts, and started up the path. The others followed them. Jou and Seto walked straight up to the cottage and flung open the door. Jou froze. Seto cursed and cried out, "Not again!" The rest of the family pushed into the house and saw Yugi lying face down on the floor. Anzu and Mai scrambled over to his head and checked for combs. They found nothing.  
  
"Honda, grab some water! Mokuba, shake him, tickle him, anything! Mai, start slapping!" Anzu commanded, highly panicked. After they had severely mauled the poor boy in his state of suffocation; by drowning him, beating him, jumping on his head ('Mokuba, stop it! A human's brain is in there!' 'Really? He never used it before…')  
  
"Somebody get Seto's cologne!"  
  
"What? You can't waste my cologne!"  
  
"We can when it's as strong as yours! It's enough to kill a living person and knock a dead one back to life!" Honda maintained. Mokuba heard this and started for the tiny glass bottle under his brother's bed.  
  
As everyone else was doing more harm to the kid than helping, Bakura stepped over to the table and saw that the pyramid he gave to Yugi was sitting there; the eye was practically winking at him. He picked it up and looked over to Yugi. There was a leather belt-thing around his neck; it looked really tight. Curious, Bakura bent down and pulled it off. Almost instantly, Yugi sprang up to sitting position gasping for air. His hands flew to his neck, as he sighed with relief.  
  
"Oh, my God! Yugi!" Anzu wrapped her arms tightly around him and Yugi once again found himself in his favorite position, being hugged to her chest. But this time, he wasn't enjoying himself as much.  
  
"Ranru, mm surfrokrating." he whimpered. Anzu let go of him.  
  
"What did I say about letting people into the house?"  
  
"She…he…never came in." he said truthfully. Anzu was about to open her mouth again but was interrupted by someone else.  
  
"Gangway!" Mokuba came thundering down the rickety stairs. Then, as if the stairs could smell the scent that was wafting from the bottle, they gave away under Mokuba. He flailed in mid-air for a second before he fell…and smashed the bottle. The full extent of the odor blew up into each of their faces. They all screamed at the top of their lungs and darted for an open exit. That is, except for Seto.  
  
"What?" He sniffed his own shirt. "It's not THAT bad."  
  
~*~*~*~Two Hours Later~*~*~*~  
  
"Ah, what a beautiful night." Yugi sighed. They had stuffed their bellies full of food and even gotten rid of most of the smell. But, as Jou put it, "I'm never gonna smell the same again."  
  
Yugi, Anzu, Mai, Seto, and Bakura were all sitting on top of the roof, watching the stars. As for Jou, Honda, and Mokuba…  
  
"Hey! That's not fair! You're both bigger than me!" SPLASH! They were, uh, 'playing' in the lake behind the cottage.  
  
"That's not how you do it!" Mai said suddenly to Jou. "You have to push in front of his legs, so it looks like he tripped in." She slid herself off the roof and landed easily next to Honda.  
  
"Like this…" She stuck one foot in front of him and pushed, hard, with one hand.  
  
"Aaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" SPLASH! Sputtering, Honda popped his head out from under the water's surface and glared at her. He hauled himself out of the lake and shook himself dry on her. He smiled at her squealing and pulled himself up onto the roof. Mokuba was already up there finishing off the rest of dinner. That left Jou and Mai on the ground. Yugi couldn't tell what they were saying, partly because everyone else was occupied with arguing over the last biscuit. Jou whispered something into her ear and kissed her. (A/N: I know they're brother and sister in the fic, but I already told you, it was common practice back then!)  
  
Yugi smiled and looked up at the full moon. The others were arguing in the background. He pressed his hand to the upside-down pyramid hanging over his chest and remembered what Bakura told him about being able to make a wish. He closed his eyes and thought, 'I wish that I could fall in love and have that love returned.' The puzzle glowed warmly in his hands; and he knew that his wish would be granted.  
  
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Hmmm….this is going to be a little bit longer than I expected… 


	6. The Apple and the Dream

Okay, I know the last chapter was sappy, but his one needs to be slightly depressing. But I still hope you find this one amusing, it's got a few little cracks.  
  
I can't believe you people think I'm funny…in person, my friends only laugh when I'm NOT trying to be funny…  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"No! Please don't do it! I didn't mean to! Honest! Please don't hurt me!" Pegasus only sighed and sipped his wine as an annoying, screechy voice begged him for mercy.  
  
"Do you know how much trouble you've caused me?" the king asked his magical Mirror. As the Mirror began to whimper his apologies, the man rolled his eyes. How pitiful…  
  
"Fine then, I won't hit you with a mallet." He spat at the now very relieved Mirror. "But," he began, the Mirror's face fell. "You will not insult me again. Or else, I will be ordering in a new Mirror." He chugged the rest of the glasses contents and placed the empty wine glass on his dresser. He stood up, and wobbled slightly. 'Hmm…Maybe that fourth glass was a little much.' He stumbled over to the Mirror and slapped at the panel on top. Missed. Tried again. Missed again. Tried again…  
  
"Ow! You said you wouldn't hurt me!" the Mirror whined.  
  
"I said I wouldn't hit you with my new mallet." Pegasus said slowly, as if it were the hardest thing to string words together to form sentences. "I said nothing about…er…about…oh, shut up." The mirror looked perplexed at his master's condition.  
  
"Now, what was I doing?" Pegasus slurred out. "Oh yes…Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who the most adorkable us all? Tee hee hee…I said adorkable"  
  
The mirror looked uncertain but answered,  
  
"Cuter still is Yugi dear,  
  
Now please don't hurt me,  
  
For it's you I fear."  
  
Pegasus looked thoughtful, or maybe it was just gas. It was the first one, thankfully.  
  
"That little brat just won't die. It's time for the secret weapon." He reached for the panel and this time he hit it. The door slid up and he strode arrogantly down the stairs…for maybe the first two steps. He tripped and fell head first, managing to curse more clearly than he had been able to talk. He landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. He groaned and pushed himself up, leaning against the wall. He shook his head, hard, and seemed to gain back his motor skills. He then walked towards the alter that carried his book on it. Stroking the eye on the cover, he flipped it open to one of the last spells, 'The Poison Apple', and cackled loudly.  
  
~*~*~*~At the Cottage~*~*~*~  
  
"NO SOLICITORS, OR ELSE, I WILL DIG UP YOUR LIFELESS BODY AND KILL IT AGAIN!" Anzu could be a very scary girl at times. Yugi was, in fact, terrified of her when she had that look on her face, and the others dared not oppose her at a time like this.  
  
"Okay, Yugi, see you tonight!" she waved cheerfully and went out the door. The others followed, at a safe distance. Bakura was last out and winked, eyeing Yugi's necklace. 'Don't take it off.' he seemed to be warning. Yugi smiled assuredly and waved them off. He could already see Mokuba whacking Jou over the head with his shovel.  
  
Chuckling, Yugi stepped back into the house and yawned. 'Napping is a good thing…' he thought. He hurriedly washed up the dishes and headed over to the blank wall and the rectangular hole in it about 8 feet up. They had yet to fix the stairs. They had all slept on the roof last night, so he had no idea how he was going to get up to the room, considering he was still shorter than average. 'Guess it's the couch for me.'  
  
He lay himself down on a couch and almost immediately fell into his dreams. It was a great dream; there was a mysterious person in it, someone he felt close to, but he was sure he had never seen the person before. He was smiling as the person held him close and whispered something into Yugi's ear. But he couldn't hear what the person was saying, and he couldn't see their face; it was hidden in the shadows. Then, they both leaned their faces in; their lips were almost touching. And then…  
  
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Yugi's body shot up and he whipped his head around. 'It was a dream.'  
  
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Yugi suddenly grew very angry. Whoever this visitor was had disturbed his wonderful dream. 'If it's another solicitor…' Yugi's head filled with wonderful things to do to them.  
  
Throwing on his most disgusted expression, he stomped his way over to the door and flipped open the little panel that Anzu had forced Seto to install. He saw a shadowy figure standing on the step, which was strange considering it was sunny outside. Yugi tried to growl like a lion, to maybe scare the person away, but ended up sounding more like a wounded kitten. Not surprisingly, Yugi's self-esteem went down a notch or two.  
  
"Yeah?" he asked the individual, dejectedly.  
  
"Hello!" the person was amazingly peppy. "I'm selling fruit. Would you like some?"  
  
"No." Yugi replied breezily, still hurt by the insult to his manly-hood, and pretty sure of the fact that this guy was fruitier than his, …well, fruit.  
  
"Are you sure? I have red-delicious apples!"  
  
"Are they red?"  
  
"Yes, that's part of their name."  
  
"Are they delicious?'  
  
"Not sure, but I would assume so."  
  
"But, until you try them yourself, shouldn't you refrain from calling them red-delicious apples? I mean, as far as you know, they're only red." Yugi reasoned.  
  
"A merchant shouldn't try their own goods."  
  
"Then how are they sure that they're good enough to sell?"  
  
"Do you want one or not?" Pegasus…I mean the apple salesman said, agitated.  
  
"Not really."  
  
"So you always waste the time of hard-working merchants like this?"  
  
"Only ones as ugly as you." Yugi smiled sweetly, though the man could only see part of the smile.  
  
"You can't even see my face!" the apple guy screeched, nervously adjusting the hood of his cloak.  
  
"But, you're covering it up, so I have to deduce that you have something to hide." Yugi once again reasoned.  
  
"I have nothing to hide!"  
  
"Then show me your face."  
  
"I don't want to."  
  
"Well, then I can't trust you. How am I supposed to buy apples from you then?"  
  
"I thought you weren't going to take one."  
  
"I'm not."  
  
Frustrated, Mr. Apple left the doorstep, cursing into the woods. Yugi smiled. 'First one this week I got rid of without getting killed.' He smiled. 'Good, because I was beginning to think I lost my touch.' He was still smiling as he lay back down on the couch and closed his eyes. 'Now to get back to that dream.'  
  
CRASH! Yugi yelped when the window next to him burst in a shower a glass. Something hard had gone through it, and the object hit him hard in the temple. He caught it after it bonked him 'An apple?' he looked out the window and saw the tail of a black cloak disappear behind the trees.  
  
"Dumb old geezer! He's breaking people's windows so he can get rid of some stupid apples." he mumbled, knowing that the guy wasn't all that old. His thoughts groaned as he surveyed the mess surrounding him. 'Now, I have to clean up.' He got up and dusted the shards of broken glass off of himself. He looked at the apple he caught. 'This apple is perfect…maybe too perfect.' He looked it over and shook his head.  
  
"You're getting paranoid, Yugi. It's not like it's poisonous. Maybe mealy, but not poisonous." he said to himself. He bit into it. 'Hmm…not bad, not bad at all.' He was about to take another bite when he felt so sick it was like his insides were being ripped out. He dropped the apple and it rolled under the couch. His vision began to spin and he fell to his knees and collapsed to the ground. And underneath him, his pyramid glowed, and did not save him.  
  
~*~*~*~Hours Later~*~*~*~  
  
"Ugh, if I have to look at them kiss again, I'm gonna be sick." Honda moaned. Jou and Mai were at it again. Those two had barely worked all day. The others rolled their eyes and kept on walking.  
  
"Y'know, Anzu, maybe they have the right idea…" Seto's eyes walked her figure. She slapped him hard.  
  
"Don't even think about it."  
  
"It was worth a try." He shrugged.  
  
"No, it really wasn't." Anzu advised. As they neared the cottage, the same thought ran through all of their heads, 'Is Yugi conscious?' They all picked up the pace, and when they threw open the door, they were barely surprised. Mai and Anzu kneeled next to him to check for anything new that he was wearing, but found nothing. They started to panic again and rummaged his entire body.  
  
"What are we gonna do? He's not wearing anything that'll hurt him!" Mai cried out. They all began to search him.  
  
"Nothing." Seto said. "We may need to take his clothes off."  
  
"You're a little too eager there." Bakura frowned. Seto gave him a look, but said nothing. Anzu once again began barking orders. They attempted the water, and they even tried the slapping again.  
  
"Do you enjoy that or something, Mai?"  
  
But it was no use. They carried on into the night and by the time the sun rose, Jou, Honda, Seto, and Mokuba had all gone to sleep. Mai was sitting on Yugi's chest, barely slapping his face, as if she was on automatic. Anzu's eyes were teary and bloodshot, she was sobbing into one of his hands. Bakura was sitting in the corner, dumbfounded, and muttering to himself, "But he's wearing the necklace, he's wearing it…"  
  
But the last of them gave up; they knew he was dead. They walked solemnly out to the woods to collect material for his coffin, which would have a glass top. They couldn't bear to think of not being able to see his adorable face everyday…  
  
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One more chapter to go… 


	7. Choking Hazard

Hi, here it is: the last one. I would have finished earlier, but I've been cut off of computers for the past couple of days. Well, I hope you like it, I don't know, it's a little sappy. But for all of you Yami fans out there, here he is!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It was a cloudy, rainy day; the kind of day that made the ground outside a slick, muddy, unpleasantly cold place to be. But this didn't keep seven unusually tall dwarves from kneeling in it, as they cried their bitter tears for their lost friend and cook.  
  
Anzu looked at the sky above. "Even the sky is crying for him."  
  
"Yeah," Kaiba said in a dead voice, "If anyone deserves it, it's Yugi." They were in a clearing in the forest, kneeling in a circle around a glass-topped coffin that they had built for the prince.  
  
As the others cried quietly, or in Jou and Honda's case, clutched at each other and wailed out into the sky: "Why Yugi? Why him?", Bakura stared at the dead face of the teen and thought, 'He looks like he's just sleeping. He's so peaceful.' His eyes fell on the pyramid that he had given Yugi. 'Why hadn't it worked? It was supposed to protect him.' Bakura felt angry. He wanted to reach into the coffin and wrench off the necklace, and beat it into tiny gold scraps.  
  
They sat like this all morning and halfway into the afternoon, some weeping, and some wrestling with cold fury at the evil, conceited king that had done this to the poor kid. But then, while the sun was setting, a group of men on horses was slowly trotting through the forest near the funeral.  
  
~*~*~*~With the Horsemen~*~*~*~  
  
"Sire, we've been hunting all day and the men need their rest. It is almost time for dinner."  
  
"We just stopped for lunch an hour ago." said the leader of the men.  
  
"But it was a very late lunch…" the man looked hopeful.  
  
"Very well, but y'know we'll never make it back home at this pace." The leader smiled.  
  
"Thank you Prince Yami." The soldier bowed his head and ran back to tell the others. Yami smiled and counted down, "3…2…1…" There was a sudden collective cry of joy behind him. With a smirk, he got down from his horse and pulled out some dried beef. Chewing on it, he looked curiously into the woods and wandered over.  
  
He didn't know why, but he was drawn towards a tall knot of trees. He stepped cautiously forwards and peered between the leaves. He was surprised to see several people gathered around something, all weeping.  
  
'Must be a funeral.' he thought to himself. He walked around the trees and quietly looked over to the coffin. He inwardly gasped. It had a glass top, so he could see the person in it.  
  
There was a boy inside, about Yami's age, but smaller. He looked like Yami, too, with the same strangely colored hair, but this boy looked so innocent and kind and sweet. Yami thought it was sad that someone like this could have died.  
  
Prince Yami walked right up to the nearest mourner and tugged at their sleeve. The person turned to show their face. He had white hair and…pointed ears?!  
  
~*~*~*~From the Dwarves' Perspective~*~*~*~  
  
Anzu stared at Yugi's lifeless body. They had left him exactly as he was when the found him. He wore the same clothes; they had kept his hair the same. They had even left on the accursed necklace that was supposed to save his life. The necklace…Anzu's eyes popped open. The pyramid was glowing. She was about to ask Bakura about it when she heard him scream out loud.  
  
All six heads whipped around to see what had happened. Bakura was clutching his chest like he had a heart attack. He jabbed his index finger at a person standing behind him; a person with an equally scared face. A very familiar face…"YUGI?" they all screamed. They stared back and forth from the coffin to the person.  
  
"I'm not Yugi!" he shook his head. He seemed a little scared. They looked again. No, this guy may look like Yugi, but definitely wasn't him. Anzu looked back at the coffin. Yugi's Pyramid was still glowing softly.  
  
"Who are you?" Mai demanded.  
  
"My name is Yami. I am the prince of the lands to the north." He stated, slightly braver. "Is this Yugi?" he walked over to the coffin. They all nodded their heads.  
  
"When did he…?" he let the question dangle.  
  
"Yesterday." Bakura seemed to have gained back his voice. He was staring at Yugi's necklace, which was glowing more brightly than ever, now that Yami had neared it.  
  
Placing a hand on the glass, Yami looked at the figure. He stared for a while.  
  
Then, whirling around, he asked, "Can I buy him from you?"  
  
The dwarves just looked at each other, as if saying, 'What kind of a weirdo…?'  
  
The Prince looked hopeful, but there was no possible way that the dwarves were letting Yugi go.  
  
"Look, maybe you should leave." Jou growled.  
  
Seto punched one fist into his other hand, "Yeah, before we get angry."  
  
Yami didn't look worried at all. "Look, I just want his body."  
  
"What kind of a sicko are you?" Mai screeched out.  
  
"A rich one…" Yami smirked again and pulled out some gold coins from his pocket. For a moment, it looked as if he had won them over, but they shook it out of their heads.  
  
"GET HIM!" Mokuba screamed. All seven of them leapt at Yami and a noisy scuffle broke out.  
  
Yugi on the other hand was perfectly peaceful…or not? The golden pyramid began to shake. His fingers began to twitch a bit, and slowly, he began to open his eyes. He was dizzy and the trees above him were spinning very fast. He tried to breathe in to clear his thoughts, but choked. He tried again, just to find it very painful, like his lungs had collapsed. He tried to sit up, but slammed his head into something, which did not help his condition. There was something over him. 'Glass?' Clutching at his throat, he began to bang on it.  
  
The seven-versus-one fight halted dead. Everyone dropped the body part they were pounding and scrambled over to the coffin. Yami got there first and tried to wrench open the top. It didn't budge. So, he raised his fist and with one swing, splintered the glass. Yugi fell into Yami's open arms, but he was still choking. Yami didn't know what to do. Yugi kept coughing, but finally, after a huge slap to the back (provided by Honda) a small chunk of something came flying out of his mouth and Yugi fell back into Yami's arms, gulping down air like it was water. After he finally regained his breath, Yugi looked up into the eyes of someone he had seen only once before in his dreams…  
  
~*~*~*~After That~*~*~*~  
  
Yami and Yugi were married, and because of this, their two countries were joined into one. So, Pegasus didn't need his Magic Mirror to tell him who was still more adorable. He did, however, use that mallet he mentioned earlier on that ill-fated Mirror. Then, under the orders of the new King Yami, Pegasus was sent to a 'special' place…  
  
"Hey! Hey! This mirror says I'm beautiful!"  
  
"Where'd you get that?" says a person in white. "You know that you shouldn't play with sharp objects!"  
  
And so…they lived happily ever after….  
  
The End.  
  
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Does it suck as much as I think it does? Well, at least it's finished… 


End file.
